Watch live: NASA launches Mars Perseverance rover to the Red Planet

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By Jeanna Bryner
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The Mars 2020 mission is scheduled to launch its Perseverance rover toward the Red Planet on Thursday, July 30. The launch window will open from 7:50 a.m. EDT on July 30 and close on Aug. 15, 2020. 

The spacecraft will launch on a Atlas V-541 rocket from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. If all goes according to plan, the Perseverance rover will land on Mars on Feb. 18, 2021, at around 3 p.m. EST (12 p.m. PST, or 8 p.m. UTC). 

Related: NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover: Live updates

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover onboard is seen illuminated by spotlights on the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41, Tuesday, July 28, 2020, at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover onboard is seen illuminated by spotlights on the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41, Tuesday, July 28, 2020, at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. (Image credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Here's a rough schedule of what to expect in the webcast:

Wednesday, July 29 (9 a.m. PDT/12 p.m. EDT)

—Administrator Briefing to discuss the upcoming launch
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine
NASA Deputy Administrator Jim Morhard
Kennedy Center Director Bob Cabana
NASA astronaut Zena Cardman

Thursday, July 30 (4 a.m. PDT/7 a.m. EDT)

—Live Launch Coverage Begins
Mission Team Members

July 30 (8:30 a.m. PDT/11:30 a.m. EDT)

—Post-launch News Conference

Jeanna Bryner
Jeanna Bryner
Live Science Editor-in-Chief

Jeanna served as editor-in-chief of Live Science. Previously, she was an assistant editor at Scholastic's Science World magazine. Jeanna has an English degree from Salisbury University, a master's degree in biogeochemistry and environmental sciences from the University of Maryland, and a graduate science journalism degree from New York University. She has worked as a biologist in Florida, where she monitored wetlands and did field surveys for endangered species. She also received an ocean sciences journalism fellowship from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.